


The Future's Gonna Happen Anyway

by bergann



Category: Numb3rs, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Backstory, Crossover, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-18
Updated: 2009-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-04 13:47:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bergann/pseuds/bergann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Evan finishes high school with absolutely no idea what to do with his life. Actually, he finishes high school with a pretty good idea of what exactly it is he wants to do with his life, but the sudden need for glasses makes joining the Air Force impossible, and he hadn't really been thinking too much about a backup plan. </i></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Future's Gonna Happen Anyway

**Author's Note:**

> For the [](http://community.livejournal.com/slashing_lorne/profile)[**slashing_lorne**](http://community.livejournal.com/slashing_lorne/) summerfest, I wrote [Five Ways Evan Lorne and Colby Granger Never Started a Relationship](http://bergann.livejournal.com/415779.html). This is the backstory for the Evan Lorne in #3, and is written for [](http://community.livejournal.com/slashing_lorne/profile)[**slashing_lorne**](http://community.livejournal.com/slashing_lorne/)'s 12 Days of Lorne. Happy holidays all!

Evan finishes high school with absolutely no idea what to do with his life. Actually, he finishes high school with a pretty good idea of what exactly it is he wants to do with his life, but the sudden need for glasses makes joining the Air Force impossible, and he hadn't really been thinking too much about a backup plan. All he'd known was that he wanted to be a pilot, and the sudden loss of that option leaves him stumbling as though his vision is gone completely.

"It'll come to you," his mother says confidently and runs her fingers through his hair, even though he's scowling. "You'll figure out what you'll want to be and with these glasses, you'll look so incredibly handsome doing it - whatever it is."

He decides to take a year off instead of aimlessly taking up a space in a college, working at a library and weighing the pros and cons of the various options for his future that he'd never considered before.

*

 

"Look at it this way," Erin says, sitting cross-legged on his bed and staring down at where he's sketching on the floor, "this self-pity thing you've got going is doing wonders for your art."

"I am not being self-pitying," Evan says and raises an eyebrow at her, "Get off my bed. You still have your own room, you know, mom's being sentimental and won't let me turn it into a studio even though you don't live here anymore."

"Aw, baby brother, don't be like that." Erin coos and flicks him on the forehead. "I miss your four-eyed face while I'm away."

Evan smacks her on the leg with his pencil, and the only warning he has of the oncoming attack is the outraged squeak.

*

 

His mother decides to take him with her to Los Angeles to visit an old friend, and while she helps said friend Alan Eppes in the kitchen, Evan can't help but look at the plans for a house currently spread out on the dining room table. They're just _there_, it's kind of hard not to look.

"I just got kicked out of my own kitchen," Alan says, suddenly appearing in the doorway. He sounds bemused. "I can cook, you know. Don hasn't complained about my cooking yet."

"I have no doubt, Mr. Eppes," Evan says and grins, "but she does that."

"Well, she probably is better at it than me. And it's Alan, not Mr. Eppes. Your mother's done a great job of raising you polite, but you don't need that here." Alan laughs a little, "It's bad luck you're here while Don and Charlie are gone. They'd show you just how lax those kinds of niceties are around here now."

Evan hasn't seen Don and Charlie since he was eight. He vaguely remembers punching Don in the face over a toy car and racing Don down the street on a bike with a broken front wheel. He can't recall Charlie at all. "Where are they?"

"Oh, Charlie's at Stanford with Margaret." Alan says and there's just a slight strain his smile, "and Don's out of town with his baseball team." He suddenly seems to notice what it is Evan's looking at. "Oh, I'd forgotten I had those out. Why don't you help me roll them up and put them away?"

"Sure," Evan hesitates for a moment, then says, "Wouldn't it better if this wall got moved a little to the left?"

Alan walks over and looks at where Evan is pointing, "Now what makes you say that?"

"Well, you've got this piece of wall right here, between the two doors, that just seems like it's not needed. The doors make it impossible to put a plant or anything there, and the dining room is already big, so why not move the kitchen wall a bit more into the dining room? It'd make it even with the wall for the bathroom too."

"Ah," Alan says and smiles a little, "I have no doubt the Harklens would probably appreciate the idea of a bigger kitchen, but that would not be a good idea." He taps at the wall Evan's pointed at. "It's a load bearing wall. That wall is supporting 20 percent of the roof and 33 percent of the second and third floor loads. Removing it would make the Harklens' house a very dangerous house to live in indeed."

Evan looks at it for a moment, but it doesn't _look_ any different from the other walls. "What makes it a load bearing wall?"

"Hold on," Alan says and sifts through the other plans, pulling one out that shows the entire house, before he starts explaining.

It's interesting and Alan's a good teacher, making sure Evan's keeping up with the explanation. He'll stop and have Evan repeat it back, correct when Evan mixes the details, before continuing the explanation. The plans haven't been cleared away by the time dinner's done, but it's quick work with the three of them, and Evan spends the meal thinking over what Alan's said while his mother and Alan catch up.

Alan mentions to his mother how nice it is to finally have someone who is interested in his work around, and Evan can't help but wonder how Don or Charlie can't find the construction plans currently folded up in the corner of the room interesting. If he closes his eyes, he can see the lines.

When they leave, Alan pulls him aside and says, "Your mother told me you haven't figured out what you want to be yet, and I recognized that look on your face earlier. It's one I've been foolishly hoping to see on one of my boys one of these days. But even though your interest is refreshing, I think being a city planner would be less satisfying for you than it has been for me. I don't mean to tell you what you should do, but I do urge you to consider architecture." Alan smiles at him. "I think you'd find it a rewarding alternative now that the Air Force is no longer an option."

*

 

Evan does consider it and he reads up about it. He spends three months borrowing books from the library on famous architects, on buildings and designs, on sketching out buildings and structures to send to Alan for an opinion; and he comes to a decision.

The decision has him enrolled at Berkley by the next fall.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Five Ways Evan Lorne and Colby Granger Never Started a Relationship](https://archiveofourown.org/works/58076) by [bergann](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bergann/pseuds/bergann)




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